When We Were Younger. |Gladion X Moon|Pokemon Romance Novel|

- 34 -

"Have you talked to Lillie yet?" Gladion asks Ms. Wicke.

"I stopped in to say hello, but she's a bit preoccupied right now."

"Moon!" Lillie shrieks from the window of the sitting area.

Hau peeks out the window and waves enthusiastically.

"Congrats Moon, you're going to be a mommy!" he says, signaling us to join.

Gladion shoots me an extremely nervous look, sweat is practically rolling off his forehead. I immediately realize what he's thinking and shake my head no. I find it funny that was the first thing to cross his mind. Inside, we find Hau and Lillie hovering over Arcanine and Ninetails.

"Jeez, give the Pokemon some space to breathe!" Gladion mutters, shoving them out of the way.

A Pokemon egg is nestled snuggly between the two sleepy Pokemon. Arcanine lifts its head and sniffs the air as I crouch down beside him. His droopy lips curl up as he pants with excitement, proudly showing off his accomplishment to me.

"Arcanine, you old devil! I didn't think you had it in you anymore!" I chuckle, vigorously rubbing the large creatures fluffy neck.

Turning my head, I look for Gladion's reaction, but he's nowhere to be found. A few moments later he returns with a stainless-steel kitchen cart. He sets out a large bowl of water and a platter of Pokemon food for the tired creatures.

"We'll get you taken care of Mama," he says quietly as he offers Ninetails a small piece of food.

Acting cautiously, he slowly gains Ninetails' trust enough to clean her up. She lays her head down as he looks her over.

"She look's good! I wouldn't let her battle for a few weeks though," he says, gathering up his supplies.

"Laying eggs can be very tough on female Pokemon, but it looks like everything went very well," he adds.

I'll admit, I'm a bit impressed by how Gladion handled the situation. As unexpected as this is, given Arcanine's old age, I can't help but marvel the simple beauty of it all. Hau's warm hand lands on my shoulder, he forcefully steers me away from the commotion and out of ear shot.

"I saw that look on Gladion's face earlier. Everything's okay, right?"

"Yeah, he just worries about everything."

"Okay good! I mean, I'd love to see Gladion changing diapers and stuff, but you've got a throne to claim! I think it's time for me to admit he's not the prince of darkness after all. But, just for old time's sake."

Hau's face grows serious as he lets his hair dangle in front of his eye, he narrows his eyes and grabs his trembling hand by the wrist.

"I'm so goth I shit Crobats!"

"Ehhem." Gladion leans against the doorway, trying his hardest to look unenthused by Hau's jab.

Ms. Wicke stands at his side, her worried eyes focus intensely on Lillie, who is busy hovering over the new parents. My stomach turns a little, the surprise egg might have been a nice distraction, but there are much more serious matters at hand.

"Miss Lillie, we need to have a word with you...In private," Ms. Wicke adds when she notices Hau trying to join.

Without thinking I rush towards Lillie, nearly knocking her over as I squeeze her tight in my arms. Her large, green eyes widen as she reacts to my unexpected, tackle of a hug. She nervously hugs me back as I blink away tears.